The Culture We Deserve

The Culture We Deserve

Share this post

The Culture We Deserve
The Culture We Deserve
TCWD Podcast: Whither Art School
Copy link
Facebook
Email
Notes
More

TCWD Podcast: Whither Art School

The MFA Crisis in the United States

Jessa Crispin's avatar
Nico Rodriguez's avatar
Jessa Crispin
and
Nico Rodriguez
Apr 03, 2024
∙ Paid
15

Share this post

The Culture We Deserve
The Culture We Deserve
TCWD Podcast: Whither Art School
Copy link
Facebook
Email
Notes
More
1
1
Share

America’s oldest art school, the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, is shutting down its degreed programs, choosing certificate programs over the BFA and MFA standard. Its enrollment has dropped more than 50% in recent years, reflecting the crisis hitting humanities and art departments across the country. It’s unlikely that the problem is fewer people wanting to be artists, read books, and engage with the history of creative expression of the world. Probably the wager of taking on catastrophic amounts of debt in the hopes of one of maybe like three jobs in the art world that comes with health coverage doesn’t seem particularly good in the casino called the United States.

Audio is below or at the usual podcast places. After the paywall, you’ll find show notes and resources and the regular nonsense.

1×
0:00
-1:41:02
Audio playback is not supported on your browser. Please upgrade.
Art School Confidential,1991-Daniel Clowes – Art in Fiction
David Clowes

Keep reading with a 7-day free trial

Subscribe to The Culture We Deserve to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.

Already a paid subscriber? Sign in
A guest post by
Nico Rodriguez
From Colombia. Works in the non-profit sector. Writes about culture in sports.
Subscribe to Nico
© 2025 Jessa Crispin
Privacy ∙ Terms ∙ Collection notice
Start writingGet the app
Substack is the home for great culture

Share

Copy link
Facebook
Email
Notes
More